Twitter etiquette that could land you a job

More than two years after joining Twitter, I still find myself the target of blank stares more often than I'd like to admit. When it comes to skepticism, I've heard just about anything you can imagine, with most dismissive questions usually taking on some form of the following: "Wait, isn't Twitter, like, an instant message to no one?"

Well, not really. Whenever I'm asked something like this, I try to hold onto the last few seconds of their attention span by explaining I might never have landed an acceptance to graduate school, two internships and a handful of job interviews without paying close attention to the way I used my Twitter account.